A YOUNG NATURALIST. 



481 



L'Encuerado's assurances only half convinced me. Lu- 

 cien's feet were so covered with blisters that he could 

 scarcely put them to the ground. Unexpectedly I discov- 

 ered that he was weeping silently ; so I took him up in my. 

 arms, when he soon fell asleep. 



In this emergency, FEncuerado, with the straps and 

 poles of our tent, managed to make a kind of litter, upon 

 which we placed the boy. Sumichrast helped me to carry 

 him, and though we had to stop hundreds of times to rest 



our arms, still we accomplished several leagues. The day 

 had scarcely begun to dawn, when I again examined the 

 horizon ; alas ! nothing was changed, and the only things I 

 saw were flocks of black vultures, which' are not generally 

 regarded as a happy omen. 



Owing to an accident by which our reserve gourd was 

 burst and the contents spilt, we were tormented by thirst, 

 and the only food we had to eat only half restored our rap- 

 idly-failing strength. In another day all our maize-cakes 



21 



